When Rafael Nadal triumphed in the 2005 French Open, he was still just a teenager. The Spaniard won 21 more Grand Slam titles, and became the second most decorated man in tennis history. He retired this week after Spain were knocked out in the quarter-finals of the Davis Cup by the Netherlands. His final match, played in front of a home crowd in Málaga, ended in a loss in straight sets to Botic van de Zandschulp, the world number 80. It was a dispiriting and yet strangely fitting end to his career.
If Federer resembled a Renaissance artwork, and Djokovic an acrobat with a racket, Nadal was like a scrappy kid
The Spaniard could have retired more gloriously at this year’s French Open, where he has an unsurpassable 14 titles, and where he left his most extraordinary legacy. But Nadal, who was bashful in interviews and away from the court, was either too humble for such a send-off, or too keen to help his country win an unglamorous tournament.
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